Sunday, October 18, 2015

Kornfeil Takes Sensational Fifth; Fahmi Claims More Points In Twelfth

Phillip Island, Australia – Sunday 18th October

Circuit: Phillip IslandCircuit Length: 4.4 km

In an action packed Moto3 Grand Prix, DRIVE M7 SIC Racing Team rider Jakub Kornfeil rode a heroic race to claim a solid 5th place finish.Making a superb start from eighth on the grid, Kornfeil immediately launched himself into second position on the opening lap. Locked in a freight train the 22 year old diced with the leaders but with sixteen laps to go was forced to take evasive action and run off track, dropping the Czech rider down to twenty fourth position. Determined not to give in, lapping half a second faster than the leading group, Kornfeil put in a sensational performance as he tore through the field to catch the leaders once again. As the final lap began the DRIVE M7 SIC Racing Team rider lead the race, but being pushed wide in the final moments crossed the line in a hard fought fifth position.Teammate Zulfahmi Khairuddin made a good start gaining places as he entered the first corner. Despite showing good form all weekend the Malaysian rider struggled to find his rhythm during the chaotic 23 lap race. Having lost positions in the first few laps, Fahmi worked hard to regain his feeling on the #63 machine, working his way back up the pack and crossing the line in a point scoring twelfth position.

Mark Woodage – Technical Director “For Jakub today’s race was exceptionally good. He had to run off track on lap seven to avoid an incident and returned back on track in twenty fourth place. To go from eight seconds down on the leaders to actually leading the race on the last lap is fantastic. For sure there was a podium in sight but this result still feels good. It was a great performance by Jakub; he finished just 0.288s off the win. Fahmi also had to avoid an incident on turn two on the first lap and from there he struggled a little to find his rhythm. He dropped back through the field but he dug deep and pushed on to get his bike back into the points and achieve his best result in the dry this season. For the team to have a twelfth and fifth two weekends in a row is good. Now we must continue this positive momentum and give it everything we’ve got for our home round in Malaysia.”

#63 Zulfahmi Khairuddin – P12“The start today was good but my first lap was not perfect and I wasn’t able to fight like I did in Japan. I’m quite disappointed with myself for this because I felt that I couldn’t really overtake people, especially in the braking points; I was being too careful with the situation. Towards the middle of the race I managed to find my rhythm and then I was able to lap always in the 1m37s times. I closed back in on the second group but there were so many battles and a few riders crashed in front of me, which elevated my position. When Jakub passed me from behind it really motivated me to push more because I felt like I was too slow. I didn’t feel as comfortable with the set-up from the front of the bike today, so it was not easy. We have took more points so I’m pleased about this but we must do better in Malaysia next week!”

#84 Jakub Kornfeil – P5“The race today was amazing; I enjoyed it a lot. Already from the start I had a good feeling. I had a plan but in Moto3 you never really know how it will turn out because everyone is so close together; it’s just one big fight. Immediately after the start I knew I had to be up there, so I was pushing as much as possible; I was P2 then P1 in the first two laps. Unfortunately the first group was not able to pull away and there were so many riders all battling together. I just wanted to stay cool but then in one moment Fenati broke so early before the corner; I touched his rear wheel so I had to pick up the bike and go out of the track; this was the key point of the race. I re-joined in twenty fourth position but I didn’t want to give up. I kept pushing and saw that my lap times were still good, so at that point I knew the race was back on. I was trying all the time to do my best and I started to catch everyone in front. I felt so fast and confident passing all the riders. Finally I came back to the leading group and with just four laps to go I said okay now I have to open the gas even more. In the last lap I was leading the race and it felt great but unfortunately in the final minutes I was pushed down to fifth. It’s a shame to have just missed out on the podium but we have to be happy with this result today. I want to say a big thanks to my team and I want to dedicate this result to my mother and girlfriend for their birthdays.”